Campbell Buys Four Boats, 155 Barges From ACBL

The four towboats Campbell purchased from ACBL are sister vessels to the mv. Tommy H, which was previously named Norman L. Snodgrass.
(Photo courtesy of Campbell Transportation)

Campbell Transportation Company Inc., a fully integrated marine services company, announced May 15 that it has signed an agreement with American Commercial Barge Line LLC to acquire certain freight contracts along with 155 barges and four towboats that will operate on the Ohio River system.

Terms were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and Campbell said in a press release that it anticipates that the closing will occur by the end of the second quarter of this year—that is, by the end of June.

Some of the barges are to be bought outright, while Campbell will assume the leases on others. All except 10 are open hopper barges, according to Peter Stephaich, chairman and CEO of Campbell.

Once the acquisition has been completed, Campbell Transportation Company will own and/or manage more than 1,100 barges and 50 towboats on the inland waterways, along with four shipyard facilities and a marine construction company.

All four boats are 2,800 hp. boats (to be upgraded to 3,000 hp.) built in 1995 and formerly operated by AEP River Operations before it was acquired by ACBL. They are all sister vessels to the 124- by 34-foot Tommy H, which Campbell recently bought and which was formerly named the Norman L. Snodgrass.

“For us, it’s a very good move,” Stephaich told The Waterways Journal. “Geographically, it’s a very good fit for us. This deal will reduce the average age of our [boat] fleet, which helps us comply with requirements of liquids shippers. The traffic patterns fit in very well with our existing routes, which are heavily concentrated in the Ohio Valley. This deal will increase their frequency and density.”

Stephaich said that Inland Marine Service will be involved in crewing and operating some of Campbell’s vessels, including possibly the new boats.